Robert Axelrod is widely known for his groundbreaking work in game theory and complexity theory. He is a leader in applying computer modeling to social science problems. His book The Evolution of Cooperation has been hailed as a seminal contribution and has been translated into eight languages since its initial publication. The Complexity of Cooperation is a sequel to that landmark book. It collects seven essays, originally published in a broad range of journals, and adds an extensive new introduction to the collection, along with new prefaces to each essay and a useful new appendix of additional resources. Written in Axelrod's acclaimed, accessible style, this collection serves as an introductory text on complexity theory and computer modeling in the social sciences and as an overview of the current state of the art in the field. The articles move beyond the basic paradigm of the Prisoner's Dilemma to study a rich set of issues, including how to cope with errors in perception or implementation, how norms emerge, and how new political actors and regions of shared culture can develop. They use the shared methodology of agent-based modeling, a powerful technique that specifies the rules of interaction between individuals and uses computer simulation to discover emergent properties of the social system. The Complexity of Cooperation is essential reading for all social scientists who are interested in issues of cooperation and complexity

作者簡介

羅伯特·阿剋塞爾羅德：密歇根大學政治學與公共政策教授，美國科學院院士，著名的行為分析及博弈專傢，主要由於他在博弈論和復雜性理論上的基礎性突破而廣為人知。阿剋塞爾羅德是把計算機模型運用到社會科學問題領域的權威學者。作者受到過來自美國科學促進會、美國政治科學協會、麥剋阿瑟基金會以及美國國傢科學院的奬勵。除本書外，還著有《閤作的進化》等著作。